Stray dog population control is dogged by bad science

Stray dog population control is dogged by bad science

Subject: Science and Technology

Section:  Health

Context: Recent events of children and other vulnerable section killed by groups of stray dogs have clearly becomes a human rights issue and public health crisis.

Background:

• India recorded a whopping 160 million cases of street/stray dog bites between 2019 and 2022, according to data submitted in Parliament till November 2022.
• This has also led to an increase in revenge crime and atrocities against dogs, feeders of dogs and caregivers as well as conflicts among urban residents.

Animal Birth Control or ABC Rules:

• First introduced in 2000 by Ministry of Culture.
• Recently replaced by the ABC rules 2023.
• The rules are issued under the Prevention of cruelty to animal act, 1960
• The policy aims to implement a technique called ‘catch-neuter-vaccinate-release’ to control populations of free-ranging dogs and cats.
• Provisions:
  • The Rules have been formulated in accordance with the guidelines provided by the Hon’ble Supreme Court related to Animal Welfare Board of India and People for Elimination of Stray Troubles.
    • The Supreme Court has specifically mentioned in various orders that relocation of dogs cannot be permitted.
  • The Rules aim to provide guidelines for the sterilisation and immunisation of stray dogs through Animal Birth Control (ABC) programmes.
    • The responsibility of carrying out ABC programmes lies with the respective local bodies, municipalities, municipal corporations, and panchayats.
    • The Municipal Corporations are required to implement the ABC and Anti Rabies Program jointly.
  • It provides guidelines on how to deal with human and stray dog conflicts without relocating the dogs in an area.
  • It also emphasises addressing the cruelty involved in carrying out ABC programmes, ensuring animal welfare.

Drawbacks of the rule:

• No benchmark has been set for the number of dogs to be sterlized.
• No proper population estimation of stray dogs by municipalities.
• ABC Rules ban the euthanasia of rabid animals, making India the only country in the world to follow such a cruel practice. The rules require rabid dogs to “die a natural death”.

Rabies

• Rabies is a vaccine-preventable, zoonotic, viral disease affecting the central nervous system.
  • It is present on all continents except Antarctica, with over 95% of human deaths occurring in Asia and Africa.
• Cause:
• It is caused by a Ribonucleic Acid (RNA) virus that is present in the saliva of a rabid animal (dog, cat, monkey, etc).
• It is invariably transmitted following a bite of an infected animal that leads to deposition of the saliva and the virus in the wound.
  • According to WHO, Dogs are the main source of human rabies deaths, contributing up to 99% of all rabies transmissions to humans.
• Status in India:
• India is endemic for rabies, and accounts for 36% of the world’s rabies deaths.
• According to WHO, about 30-60% of reported rabies cases and deaths in India occur in children under the age of 15 years as bites that occur in children often go unrecognised and unreported.